Zcash Community Grants

Grant Process

This page covers the essentials of how to submit a grant and what to expect throughout the approval process.

As a democratically-elected body entrusted with allocating community resources, ZCG aims to be as transparent as possible. We follow a process that enables the Zcash community and ecosystem stakeholders to review and comment on grant applications before approval. This page describes our grant application and selection process, and will be updated as the process evolves.

Before Submitting Your Application

Be aware of the following before submitting your application:

  • Fiduciaries of approved grants exceeding $50,000 USD are required to complete a KYC process to receive funding, though they may continue to remain pseudonymous to the public.
  • For non-technical applications, review this guidance.
  • Applications can be submitted on a rolling basis, but will be reviewed every other week.
  • The larger the requested sum, the more diligence and milestones required
  • See our home page for a list of things we're ready to fund, but keep in mind this list is not all inclusive and we would love to hear your ideas!
  • Not sure if you're ready to submit an application? Have questions? Feel free to post your idea to the forums in the Grants category to solicit feedback. You can tag @ZcashGrants in your post to ask the Committee questions.
Submitting Your Application

How to submit your application:

  1. Log into your GitHub account or create an account.
  2. Complete the ZCG Grant application as detailed as possible ensuring all required fields are complete.
  3. Click "Create" to submit your application.
  4. Post a link to your grant on the Zcash Community Forum (required). If you are unable to post on the forum (for example, due to new user restrictions), please leave a comment below your grant issue, and we will adjust your posting permissions.
  5. FPF will review your application to ensure it meets the eligibility requirements before ZCG reviews your application.
Community Review

Once your application has been reviewed for eligibility and you have posted a link to your grant on the forum:

  • The community and ecosystem stakeholders have at least one week to comment.
  • This process is in place to provide a community temperature check and crowdsource due diligence.
Grant Committee Review

The grants committee will review your application following a period of community review.

  • The grants committee may include outside experts in the process.
  • The grants committee will review the grantee's previous grant outcomes, if any.
  • The grants committee will review and discuss the grant, make approval decisions, and identify outstanding questions or proposal improvements in their bi-weekly meeting.
Finalize Application

The Financial Privacy Foundation will work with the grantee to improve the grant application based on the outcome of the grants committee bi-weekly meeting. Some necessary improvements may involve:

  • Adjustments to proposed milestones (deliverables, funding tranches, timeframes, etc)
  • More detailed KPIs for grant success
  • Further details as required.
  • The finalized application must meet all requirements.
Grant Committee Approval

The grants committee will review the changes made to the grant and provide an approval decision.

  • Approvals are based on a simple majority (3 of 5).
  • The Grants Committee will provide short explanations for reasoning behind their decisions which will be included in meeting minutes that are regularly posted to the forums.
  • The Financial Privacy Foundation on behalf of ZCG will notify the grantee via the Zcash Community Forums of approval status.
Grant Agreement Finalized

The Financial Privacy Foundation will facilitate all necessary KYC and grant agreement documentation. Please note:

  • All required documentation must be completed before milestone payouts will be considered.
  • The Zcash community would greatly appreciate monthly status updates posted to your grant proposal forum thread to stay abreast of ongoing developments with your grant.
  • Forum updates on your grant proposal thread are required before milestone payouts will be made.